martin



s.- W. MARTIN.

(No Model.)

Patented May 19, 1896.

vi g E VKVJAWUVQACW ANDREWBIRAIIANLPNOTDLITNQWASNINGTDKDC. I

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

S. W. MARTIN. LAWN MOWER.

No. 560,514. Patented May 19, 1896.

WUF NEX 1 ANDREW HYGRAHAMPHOTO UTHQWASBINGYDNJ c SAMUEL \V. MARTIN, OFSPRINGFIELD, OHIO, ASSIGNOR TO THE MAST, FOOS & COMPANY, OF SAME PLACE.

LAWN-MOWER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 560,514, dated May 19,1896.

Application filed $eptember '7, 1893. Serial No. 485,006. (No model.)

To ail whom it may concern:

.Be it known that I, SAMUEL WV. MARTIN, a citizen of the UnitedStates,residin g at Springfield, in the county of Clark and State ofOhio, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Lawn-Mowers,of which the following is a specification, reference being had thereinto the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to certain, new and useful improvements inlawn-mowers, and the special features of the invention have reference toa new means of supporting the reel-shaft and adjusting it to and fromthe cutter-bar; have reference to an improved bearing for thereel-shaft; have reference to constructing the end plates of thinmaterial, preferably steel, struck up by dies and shaped by formers andreinforced by a cast plate, whereby lightness and yet great strength, asalso cheapness, are obtained; have reference to a provision for usingvarious-sized groundwheels, yet without changing the driving gear-wheel,so as to make machines with large or small or intermediate sized wheelswithout changing the relative positions and distances of the centers andworking parts, and have reference to several details hereinafter pointedout.

In the accompanying drawings, on which like reference-letters indicatecorresponding parts, Figure 1 is a vertical sectional View on the lineon as of Fig. 2, showing a lawn-mower embodying my improvements; Fig. 1,a detail view of the handle-yoke and its means of connection with theend plate; Fig. 1 asectional View of such parts. Fig. 2 is a rear viewof a portion of such lawn-mower with a part in section. Fig. 3 is adetail view, looking at one of the side plates and attachedbearing-plates, on a larger scale. Fig. 4 is a similar view to Fig. 3,showing a modified form of bearing-plates; Fig. 4, a detail perspectiveof the toothed segment. Fig. 5 is a fragment of the bearing-plate andside plate,

showing the reel'shaft bearing in Vertical section. Fig. 6 is asectional view of the ground-wheel, gear, side plate, bearing-plate, andaxle-stud. Fig. 7 is a similar sectional view of a part of theground-wheel, side plate, and gear-wheel, in which the carrying-wheel isof large diameter. Fig. 8 is a plan view of a machine withv theground-wheels, drivinggears, and reel removed. Fig. 9 is an innerelevation of one of the ground-wheels and its contained driving-gear,which is clutched to it. Fig. 10 is a side elevation of a largerground-wheel with the same-sized driving gear, which is clutched to it;and Fig. 11 is a detail perspective View of the preferred form ofbearing-plate, which is also illustrated in side elevation in Figs. 1and 3.

The frame of the machine is constructed of the struck-up sheet metal,preferably steel, end plates A, which are light, strong, and cheaplymade. They are fastened together by the through-rod B in a pipe 0, whichforms shoulders for the nuts D to clamp the plates against. They arealso interconnected by the stout blade-bar E, whose ends are cast withflanges F, which fit upon the outside of end plates. Bolts G passthrough the plates and these flanges and thus make a strong and rigidframe.

To reinforce and strengthen the end plates, as also to afford bearingsfor the reel-shaft, I provide the bearing-plates H, which are preferablyof cast or malleable iron. They have suitable webs, as at I, to stiffenthem, and they are clamped to the end plates by the axle-studs J, oneend of each of which is reduced, so as to leave a shoulder and'to passthrough the end plate and bearing-plate and receive a nut K. These nutsare drawn up very tight, so that the two plates are strongly clampedtogether, thus affording rigidity to the struck-up plates as well aseffecting friction between the plates, which friction is of use inholding the bearing-plates against suddenly moving or moving too farwhen their free end is moved to adjust the reel to the fixed blade.There are two forms of these bearing-plates shown in respect toadjusting them. In the preferred form the plate extends rearwardalongside of the end plate and is provided with cogteeth L, with whichmesh the teeth of a segment M, mounted on a stud 0, carried by the endplate. A slot P in the end plate receives a bolt P, which passes througha hole Q in the bearing-plate, and a nut R is used to clamp the twoplates together at this point. By loosening the nut R and applying awrench to the boss S on the segment M the bearing-plate can be slowlyand accurately moved until the reel-knives are adjusted with respect tothe fixed blade T, carried by the bar E, with the greatest nicety. Thisconstruction is equal in its effects to a micrometer-screw, so nice isthe adjustment. The frame of the machine being rigid is kept perfectlysymmetrical and true, and consequently the machine is free from theobjections consequent upon the loosening of the blade-bar in order toadjust it to the reel as in machines generally.

In the modified form of bar-plate shown in Fig. l the same constructionjust described is retained; but the extension of the plate is upwardinstead of rearward and the teeth and segment are omitted andresort ishad to a hammer or other instrument to tap the plate after loosening thenut R. By tapping it gently it will move but a hairs breadth on accountof the friction between the two plates. Thus the adjustment may benicely made.

The bearing-plate is cast with a flange U, which forms the lower part ofthe box for the reel-shaft. The upper partis formed of a plate V. Thetwo plates are interlocked by a head on one, which enters a groove inthe other. A spiral spring X fits a recess in the upper plate and restsupon the lower plate. Abolt and nut Z are used to draw the upper platedown against the spring and to the reel-shaft Ct. By using the springthe weight of the upper plate is sustained and a resistance to the boltis oil'ered, so that the upper plate can be adjusted to come down andbarely touch the shaft, whereby it is prevented from rattling and yet isnot unduly bound. In practice this is a valuable detail. The side plateis slotted, as shown at Z), to accommodate the up-and-down adjustment ofthe reel-shaft.

The reel is of any approved construction, consisting, besides a shaft a,of spider-arms c and cutting-blades d.

A ground-roller c is provided and is attached to the end plates in theusual manner, as shown.

As already intimated, the driving-gear f is clutched to thedriving-wheel 9, so that the wheel will drive the gear when the machineis pushed forward, but will not operate the gear when the machine isdrawn back. This clutch is not described in detail because it forms nopart of this invention, having been used on machines manufactured by myassignees of this case for years past.

The axle-stud J not only carries the driving-wheel g, but also thegear-wheel f, as clearly shown in Fig. 6, There is a demand in the market for machines with small wheels, machines with large wheels, andmachines with medium-sized wheels. I have provided fora change in thesize of the wheels without a change of any other part of the machine andwithout disturbing the relative position of the centers and operatingparts. This 1 accomplish by constructing the varioussized wheels abovethe smallest wheel with an annular flange 7b, as shown in Figs. 7 and10, whereby the wheel is made to fit snugly about the outside of the endplate A just the same as the smallest wheel fits it, as shown in Figs. 6and 0. Thus by making wheels with different widths of flanges h themachine may be provided with different-sized wheels, and yet grass andother foreign matter cannot get into these wheels, because the flangecoming in to the end plate serves the same purpose as the joint betweenthe wheels and end plate. (Shown in Figs. 6 and 9.)

The end plates are slotted at i and provided with a hook-stud j. Thehandle-yoke 7t has a stud'which fits in the slot 1' an d a hole which isslipped over the hook-studj.

This machine, constructed as shown and described, has been subjected tosevere tests and has proved to be of great practical value and topossess peculiar excellencies as a grasscutter. It runs smoothly, islight, yet very stron The frame never loses its truencss and is notexposed to being drawn out of symmetry by manipulation incident to adjusting the cutter-bar and reel relatively.

Having thus fully described myinvention, what I claim as new, and desireto secure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a lawn-mower, the combination with an end plate, an axle-studfitted thereto, a wheel on the axlestud at one side of the plate, aninward projection on the stud, a bearingplate mounted on said projectionand a fastening device on the projection to frictionally bind the twoplates together, and a device to fasten and unfasten the two plates withrespect to each other so that upon unfastening them the bearing-platemay be adjusted with respect to the end plate, a cutting-reel mounted inthe bearing-plate and a fixed knife-bar secured to the end plate, agearing between the ground-wheel and the reel-shaft whose centers arecoincident with the axle-stud and the reelshaft, whereby when thebearing-plate is adjusted on the axle-stud projection the mesh of thegearing is not destroyed, while the knife-bar remains fixed when thereel is adjusted to and from it.

2. In a lawn'mower, the combination with an end plate, of abearing-plate, and an axlestud, carried by the end plate, having aninward projection on which the bearing-plate is mounted, a nut 011 theprojection by which the two plates are frictionally bound together, anda wheel mounted on said stud and free to turn without being affected bythe binding action of the stud and nut on the two plates, and afastening device carried by the two plates to hold them in a fixedrelation.

8. In a lawn-mower, the combination with an end plate and driving-gear,of a groundwheel separate therefrom and clutched thereto with asubstantially vertical flange extendin g inward from the tread of thewheel to near the end plate, the width of the flange varying with theexcess of diameter of the groundwheel over the gear-wheel.

4:. In a lawn-mower, the combination with an end plate and drivinggear-wheel, of a ground-Wheel of more or less excessive diameter overthe gear-wheel and having a substantially vertical flange from its rimto near the end plate, the width of the flange varying with such excessof diameter.

5. In a lawn-mower, the combination with an end plate struck up of sheetmetal, a bearing-plate of cast metal, an axle-stud carried by one of theplates and on which the other is mounted, and a fastening device on the15 about the axle-stud as a center when the fric- 20 tion is overcome.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

SAMUEL W. MARTIN. Witnesses:

OLIVER I-I. MILLER, W. M. MONAIR.

